Furniture-caster



(No Model.)`

R. G. JORDAN. FURNITURE GASTER.

No. 454,742. 'Patented June 23,1891.

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@vwl/mama UNITED STATES .PATENT Ormea.

ROBERT G. JORDAN, or WOODBURY, NEwJnRsnY.

FURNITURE-CASTER.

SPECIFICATION lforming part of Letters Patent No. 454,742, dated June 23, 1891. Application filed January 26, 1889. Serial No. 297,689. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT G. JORDAN, of Woodbury, in the county of Gloucester and State of New Jersey, have invented certain Improvements in Furniture-Casters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to that class of furniture-casters consisting of a tubular socket adapted to receive a revolving pintle or stem which is provided on its lower end with a caster-Wheel.

The invention consists in combining with a tubular socket having longitudinal ribs and an upturned base spring-tongues to engage the pintle and a bearing-disk for the same.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation, partly in section, of my improved furniture-caster. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the same.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a tubular socket formed, by means of a die or otherwise, of a single piece of sheet metal and closed at its upper end. It is provided on opposite sides with the longitudinal ribs a and a', stamped therein and extending beyond the peripheral surface of the socket. These ribs enter the wood as the socket is driven therein and serve to prevent the same from turning or working loose and also to strengthen the socket. The lower end of the socket ares outward, and then curves upward a short distance, as plainly shown in the drawings, thus forming a smooth curved bearing-surface a2, which, by sliding upon the iloor when the pintle is not in place, greatly facilitates the removal of the furniture from place to place. rlhe upper edge of this upwardly-curved portion is preferably provided with serrations or teeth a5, so that when the socket is driven in place the teeth will enter the wood and securely bind the same. The socket is further provided on opposite sides and between the ribs .a a with the upwardly and inwardly extending springtongues CL3 and a4, formed integral therewith by cutting around their upper ends. These springs are constructed to bear on opposite sides of a pintle B and beneath a globular 5o head b, formed on its upper end, and serves to retain the pintle snugly in the socket, preventing any wabbling, and at the same time permitting it to turn freely therein.

To form a solid bearing for the upper end of the pintle and to relieve the top of the socket from undue strain, I provide the disk b', preferably of hard steel, and place the saine in the upper end of the socket and'contract the latter slightly below the disk to retain it in place. By employing this disk the tendency of the pintle to push through the top of the thin socket is avoided, and consequently I am not compelled to provide holes of the exact shape and size of the socket, which would otherwise be necessary to afford a solid bearing for the upper end of the pintle and to prevent the same from being punched through the socket.

The pintle is provided on its lower end with the usual caster-wheel frame O, extending horizontally therefrom, in which is mounted the caster-wheel D on its horizontal axis d.

In order to reduce the friction of the pintle in revolving in its socket and to assist insupporting the Weight of the furniture, I have provided the anti-friction roller or wheel E, adapted to revolve in contact With the curved bearing-surface a2 of the socket, and arranged in such manner that the Weight of the furniture will be supported vertically over the axis of the caster wheel. This roller is mounted in the caster-frame C and revolves on an axis c, located vertically above the axis of the caster-WheelD. The peculiar location of the roller with relation to the axis of the caster-Wheel throws the weight of the furniture over and upon axis CZ, which relieves the strain to which these part-s are usually subj ected. It will be observed that the tendency of the leg of the furniture to split from lateral strains is also avoided.

I do not confine myself to the exact details of construction herein shown for thus supporting the weight of the furniture, as the same may be variously modified Without departing from the limits of my invention.

It will be observed that my socket is drawn from the solid metal without a seam or slit. This is advantageous, in that it may be made from thin metal; which is readily Worked in dies and which produces highly -elastic springs, while at the same time being without IOO the seam it is free from any liability to split or open under the lateral strain.

The employment of the bearing-plate b in the closed end is advantageous, in that the bearing receives a Iirm and solid support Without the necessity of using heavy metal for the body of che socket.

Having thus described niyinvention, what I olaimis- In a furniture-caster, the sheet-metal tubular socket provided with the upwardly and inwardly extending sp1ing-to11gues a3 and d4, the longitudinal ribs a a', and the outwardly and upwardly curved base, in combination with the pintle B, held in the socket by the 1-5 said springs', and the bearing-disk b', located in the,upper end of said socket above the pin'nle.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand, this 14th day of'January, 1889, in the zo presence of two attesting Witnesses.

ROBT. G. JORDAN.

'vVtnessesz WM O. ToWNsEND, FRANK BREWER. 

